If we are what we Google, then
Google Hot Trends
—
an hourly rundown of search terms “that experience sudden surges in popularity”—
is the Web’s best cultural barometer. Here’s a sampling of today’s top searches. (Rankings on Hot Trends list current as of 10 a.m.)
No. 28: “digital converter box.”
If you’re Googling this, chances are you woke up to find your TV has gone snowy. Congratulations: You live in one of the more than 1 million homes that are unprepared for today’s
digital TV switchover
! (
Slate
‘s Farhad Manjoo
explains
what just happened to your TV, and why you should be happy about it.)
No. 59: “Banksy.”
No, bloggers haven’t uncovered the infamous graffiti artist/trickster’s identity (
though not for lack of trying
). All this Googling is related to Banksy’s
new show
, which opens tomorrow in Bristol, U.K. It’s the biggest exhibition yet for the artist who once sold a painting titled “I Can’t Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Shit,” and in typical Banksy fashion, no one knew about it until the day before its opening.
No. 62: “Pedamundo.”
Yesterday, singer/songwriter John Mayer coined this word for a made-up holiday that consists of “7 days apologizing for the year’s indiscretions, culminating in a nice garden salad.” Less than 24 hours after Mayer
posted
it to his
Twitter account
(followers:1,299,783) “pedamundo” is strongly trending on both Google and Twitter. The Wikipedia entry for ”
pedamundo
” has already been written and deleted (stated reason: “does not indicate the importance or significance of the subject”), but there’s no
Web site
, yet.
